Unit power plant.



C. A. ERICK'SON.

UNIT POWER PLANT.

APPLICATION FlLED'NOV.25, 1913.

Patented A r. 11,1916.

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c. A. EmcKson;

UNIT POWER PLANT.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-25,1913.

1,178,578. I Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

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CHARLES A. ERICKSON, 015 DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

I nun" POWER PLANT.

SON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new, and useful "Improvements Unit Power'Plants, of which the following is a specification.

. My invention relates to a unit power plant for motor vehicles and all-object of my invention is to provide a power plant WhlCll can be readily dismounted from the vehicle and which is resiliently mounted relative to the running gear and has a direct driving connection with the traction wheels.

Various other objects and advantages will be in 'part obvious and in partmore fully set forth in the following description of one physical embodiment of my invention,

which broadly comprises 'a' motor casing mounted between the side bars of, the chassis and agear casing attached to the motor casing and supported by a transverse ele- 'ment of the chassis to form a three point suspension, the actuating. mechanism in which gear case .is operatively connected to the traction wheel without The invention furtherconsists in certain details of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

'In the accompanying drawings: Figure'l is a side elevation of a fore carriage unit disclosing one form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view looking down upon the device shown in Fig. 1,; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view talien on the 1ine'33 of Fig.

2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4.- of 2 showing a rear elevation of the power "unit.

, In the several figures'is a running gear including an axle 1 which may be either the rear or the front axle. of a motor vehicle. Each'end of the axle terminates in an. up

standing post 2 which may be asteering knuckle and which provides the wheel spindle carrying the traction wheels 3. Resiliently mounted upon the running gear by suitable means, such as, the semi-elliptical springs 4 is an open frame 5 forming part of the chassis of the vehicle and preferably formed of longitudinally extending side channel bars 6 and similarly connecting transverse bars 7. Positioned within the bars forming the open the use of intera journal for.

Specification'of Letters Patent. Patented A 11 1916 Application filed November 25, 1913. Serial No. 802,887.

I frame is a unit power plant 8, --which includes the filotor'casingfi extending transversely of and having. opposite ends suitplant also includes a gear casing 12 one side of which is supported by and preferably formed integral with the motor casing 9 and the opposite side of which is supported from one of the transverse bars 7 preferably by bolting'a strap 18 extending therefrom to the underside of the member l The gear casing 12 is adapted to contain the transmission, differential and brake mechanism usual with devices of this character and is operatively connected to drive the traction wheel by means of driving shafts 14 connected bymeans of universal joints 15 with the driving spindle of the traction wheel and by means of universal joints 16 with the gearing within the casing 12. The shafts 14 are maintained substantially in the axis of rotation of thewheels 3 and to provide room for the bulk of the gear casing the axle. 1 is ofl set as shown at 17 but this offsetting is in a Vertical plane which contains the wheel spindle and the driving shafts;

By means of a structure of this character there is provided'a direct driving of the traction wheels with theleast amount of connecting shafts and without any exposed gearing outside of the casing. The universal joints permit the relativemovement between the running gearand the resiliently. mounted power unit without materially affecting the direct driving connection between the plant and the traction wheels. The power in the open frame, bymerely loosening the holding bolts and possesses all of-:=,the advantages of a three point suspension and permitsstraining twists on the frame without offsetting the driving mechanismscan.

- plant can be readily dismounted or installed gear while the plant is carried along on a .cushioned support. By mounting the relatively heavy motor casing 9 between the side channel bars 6 the heavy weight of this part may be distributed about the transverse line connecting the side supports and the relatively light gear casing 12 may be balanced about a longitudinal line passing through the third point of suspension thus placing substantially the same weight on the three points of suspension. I

Although I have shown only one form of mechanism embodying my invention, it is obvious that various changes within the skill of the mechanic may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, provided the means set forth in the said longitudinal members, said unit comprising a motor casing substantially balanced on a transverse line connecting the points of suspension on the longitudinal members and a gear casing substantially balanced on a line bisecting said transverse line and passing through the point of suspension on the transverse member and a transverse driving member directly connecting said running gear with said gear casing.

2; In a motor propelled vehicle, the'combination with an axle having steering knuckles at opposite ends thereof and a frame supported therefrom, traction wheels on said knuckles, of'driving shafts disposed substantially in the axis of rotation of said wheels when in normal position and connected directly therewith, a self contained power unit demountably fixed to said frame and including a gear casing directly connected to said shafts and an internal combustion engine fixed to said casing for driving said driving shafts.

3. In amotor propelled vehicle, the combination with a running gear including a steering wheel and a flat open frame carried thereby, said frame including transverse and 'a pair of'longitudinal elements, a self contained motor casing disposed within and having opposite ends supported from said frame, an internal combustion engine supported fromsaid motor casing, a gear casing having one side supported from 'said motor casing and the other side supported from said transverse element, said gear and motor casings constituting a removable unit having a three point suspension on said frame and rigidly connected thereto, a driving connection having one end pivotally connected to said driving shaft and the other end pivotally connected to said steering wheel. a

- 4. In a motor propelled vehicle, the combination with a running gear and a frame supported thereby, said frame including a transverse and a pair of longitudinal members, of a removable unit power plant adapted to be disposed within said frame and having three extensions therefrom adapted verse and each longitudinal member and bolts depending from the members and adapted to engage said extensions to support the plant from the frame, said plant adapted to be lowered directly from the 1 frame when the bolts are loosened.

5. In a motor propelled vehicle, the com= bination with a pair of traction wheels each having a driving spindle, an axle supported thereby, a chassis supported from said axle, of a self contained power unit supported directly from said chassis and comprising an internal combustion engine paralleling said axle and having opposite ends supported from the chassis and having a gear casing projecting from said engine and extending over said axle, means for supporting said gear casing centrally thereof and direct driving connections between the gear casing and the driving spindles of the traction wheels. V

This specification signed and witnessed this 22 day of November, A. D. 1913.

- CHAS. A. ERICKSON. Signed in the presence of ALBERT A. HOFMANN,

H. J. HOWLAND.

to be disposed beneath respectively the trans- 

